German striker hardly awestruck by Italian defence
Die Mannschaft’s back line superior, Muller says ahead of showdown
Good but not great. That’s Thomas Muller’s take on Italy’s seemingly impenetrable defence.
The German talisman, who hasn’t scored at these Euros, offered a simple, yet reasonable take when reminded of the Azzurri’s impeccable defending at this tournament.
“I don’t see the Italian defence as insurmountable because I had some good experiences with Bayern,” Muller told German TV station Sport1 ahead of Saturday night’s marquee quarter-final in Bordeaux.
“In the Champions League, (Bayern Munich) scored four times in two matches and the Italian defence is more or less the Juventus defence. Italy do defend very well as a team. They sacrifice themselves.”
Muller is selling Bayern short, of course. The Bundesliga giants scored six times over two legs against Juventus during the second round of this year’s Champions League — including three over the span of a half-hour.
The comparison being that Italy’s heralded back three — Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini — and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon all play for Juve, though Chiellini missed both legs of said meeting.
Muller even tipped Germany’s back line as superior: “I have still seen more chances happening in the Italian box than in the German box during these Euros,” he added. Germany has yet to concede here. Such mind games began almost immediately after Italy beat Spain in the Round of 16 earlier this week, with German manager Joachim Low brushing off the history that exists between these two sides.
For how dominant they’ve been, the Germans never have beaten Italy at a major tournament.
Four losses. Four defeats. And, most recently, a stunning loss to the Azzurri in the 2012 Euro semis.
Who could forget a statuesque Mario Balotelli standing at attention following that thumping strike in Warsaw, where the Italians claimed a surprise win to deny the Germans a chance at a fourth European title.
For Low, the loss stood as the second time he’d been bested by the Azzurri at a major competition. Looking back, he blames himself.
“Everyone makes mistakes. Coaches, too,” Low told UEFA. “It was our tactical idea to take (Andrea) Pirlo out of that game, but this plan did not work. These games happen.
“You think how to best line up, and you get it wrong. Then there were individual mistakes, like for Balotelli’s first goal or his second, where we were wide open after a corner. None of us were up to par.”
Low surely will remind his side of that day — when yet another organized and tactically precise Italian side overcame the odds to dispatch a quality side.
Whether Antonio Conte’s men can do it again remains to be seen. They showed signs of fatigue Monday night in Saint-Denis and the Germans have had an extra day’s rest after slaughtering Slovakia.
Questions remain as to whether the Italians have the stamina to continue defending with such vigour and purpose. Are Conte’s tactics conducive to an international tournament in which teams play every few days?
“I said that we were going to be a war machine at Euro 2016, but I was never worried the soldiers won’t follow the general,” Conte said ahead of Saturday’s clash.
“We’ve worked for two years to get here and this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. There are stronger teams than us, but we always knew that with hard work and team work we could bridge that gap.”
From Muller’s vantage, the Germans also ripped the Italians open in a 4-1 friendly win just four months ago. As Conte said, a gap certainly exists.
That is, until they reach a major tournament, where the Azzurri always come up big against the Germans.